Unsaturated Polyester Resin Filled with Cementitious Materials: A Comprehensive Study of Filler Loading Impact on Mechanical Properties, Microstructure, and Water Absorption.

In recent years, cheaply available cementitious materials (CMs) are increasingly finding useful applications in construction engineering. This manuscript focused on the development and fabrication of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR)/cementitious material composites to be potentially useful in a variety of construction applications. For this purpose, five types of powders from widely available fillers, i.e., black cement (BC), white cement (WC), plaster of Paris (POP), sand (S), and pit sand (PS), were used. Cement polymer composite (CPC) specimens were prepared by a conventional casting process with various filler contents of 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt %. Neat UPR and CPCs were investigated mechanically by testing their tensile, flexural, compressive, and impact properties. Electron microscopy analysis was used to analyze the relation between the microstructure and mechanical properties of CPCs. The assessment of water absorption was conducted. The highest tensile, flexural, compressive upper yield, and impact strength values were recorded for POP/UPR-10, WC/UPR-10, WC/UPR-40, and POP/UPR-20, respectively. The highest percentages of water absorption were found to be 6.202 and 5.07% for UPR/BC-10 and UPR/BC-20, while the lowest percentages were found to be 1.76 and 1.84% for UPR/S-10 and UPR/S-20, respectively. Based on the finding of this study, the properties of CPCs were found to depend on not only the filler content but also the distribution, particle size, and combination between the filler and the polymer.

Defining hypoxaemia from pulse oximeter measurements of oxygen saturation in well children at low altitude in Bangladesh: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: WHO defines hypoxaemia, a low peripheral arterial oxyhaemoglobin saturation (SpO2), as <90%. Although hypoxaemia is an important risk factor for mortality of children with respiratory infections, the optimal SpO2 threshold for defining hypoxaemia is uncertain in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We derived a SpO2 threshold for hypoxaemia from well children in Bangladesh residing at low altitude. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled well, children aged 3-35 months participating in a pneumococcal vaccine evaluation in Sylhet district, Bangladesh between June and August 2017. Trained health workers conducting community surveillance measured the SpO2 of children using a Masimo Rad-5 pulse oximeter with a wrap sensor. We used standard summary statistics to evaluate the SpO2 distribution, including whether the distribution differed by age or sex. We considered the 2.5th, 5th and 10th percentiles of SpO2 as possible lower thresholds for hypoxaemia. RESULTS: Our primary analytical sample included 1470 children (mean age 18.6±9.5 months). Median SpO2 was 98% (IQR 96%-99%), and the 2.5th, 5th and 10th percentile SpO2 was 91%, 92% and 94%. No child had a SpO2 <90%. Children 3-11 months had a lower median SpO2 (97%) than 12-23 months (98%) and 24-35 months (98%) (p=0.039). The SpO2 distribution did not differ by sex (p=0.959). CONCLUSION: A SpO2 threshold for hypoxaemia derived from the 2.5th, 5th or 10th percentile of well children is higher than <90%. If a higher threshold than <90% is adopted into LMIC care algorithms then decision-making using SpO2 must also consider the child's clinical status to minimise misclassification of well children as hypoxaemic. Younger children in lower altitude LMICs may require a different threshold for hypoxaemia than older children. Evaluating the mortality risk of sick children using higher SpO2 thresholds for hypoxaemia is a key next step.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Nephrology and Transplant Services and Clinical Training in India.

OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 has emerged as a global pandemic with significant impacts on health care systems. The present study was conducted to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nephrology and transplant services and clinical training at our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational study was conducted at the Institute of Kidney Disease and Research Centre (Ahmedabad, India). Our institute is one of the largest tertiary care centers of its kind in India with around 400 total inpatient beds for nephrology, urology, and transplant patients. In 2019, our center had annual outpatient and inpatient numbers of 132 181 and 7471, respectively, and conducted 412 renal transplant procedures. For this study, monthly data on number of outpatients, inpatients, and patients undergoing renal transplant, as well as various nonelective procedures, conducted in 2019 and 2020 were collected and analyzed. We investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various non-COVID-19-related health care facilities and on clinical training and research activities at our institute. RESULTS: During the 2020 COVID-19 period, the number of outpatients and inpatients was greatly reduced compared with data from 2019. A similar decrease was seen in patients undergoing hemodialysis, renal transplant, and nonelective procedures at our center. The COVID-19 period also greatly affected clinical training of residents enrolled at our institute and research activities, as a result of focus on COVID-19 as a priority. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of reduced numbers of outpatients and inpatients on workflow, as well as reduced numbers of renal transplants and nonelective procedures on the health of our patients, are unknown. Hence, a strategic scheme is needed to develop new health care models that can help manage the COVID-19 pandemic at present and any further waves arising in the future.

Feasibility and safety of remdesivir in SARS-CoV2 infected renal transplant recipients: A retrospective cohort from a developing nation.

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection has drastically impacted the transplant communities. Remdesivir (RDV) has shown some promising results in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) albeit with low certainty. Data in kidney transplant recipients (KTR) are still lacking. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort of 57 moderate to severe COVID-19 positive KTR in a single center who received RDV as a part of COVID-19 management. No dose adjustments were done. The outcomes were measured as acute kidney injury (AKI) recovery; liver function tests abnormalities; other side effects; graft loss and death. RESULTS: The median (inter-quartile range) age of presentation was 44 (31-51) years. The duration from onset of symptoms to RDV initiation was 6 (5-7) days. Thirty-two (56%) cases received RDV on the day of admission. Forty-six (81%) cases were on oxygen support upon initiation of RDV. Thirty-eight (66.6%) cases had acute kidney injury on admission. The median baseline, admission, and 28-day follow-up serum creatinine of the cohort were 1.59 (1.1-2.1), 2.13 (1.3-3.1), and 1.58 (1.05-2.1) mg/dl, respectively. A total of 8(14%) cases died in the study with 1 (1.7%) graft loss. All those cases that died were on oxygen therapy at the time of initiation of RDV. No liver function derangements or any other major adverse events with the drug were reported. CONCLUSION: RDV therapy is safe and clinically feasible in renal transplant recipients as seen in our cohort. Larger clinical registries and randomized clinical trials should be conducted to further explore the efficacy in transplant recipients.

Non-simultaneous kidney exchange cycles in resource-restricted countries without non-directed donation - a prospective single-center cohort study.

Recent reports suggest that bridge-donor reneging is rare (1.5%) in non-simultaneous kidney exchange chains. However, in developing countries, the non-directed donors who would be needed to initiate chains are unavailable, and furthermore, limited surgical space and resources restrain the feasibility of simultaneous kidney exchange cycles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the bridge-donor reneging rate during non-simultaneous kidney exchange cycles (NSKEC) in a prospective single-center cohort study (n = 67). We describe the protocol used to prepare co-registered donor-recipient pairs for non-simultaneous surgeries, in an effort to minimize the reneging rate. In addition, in order to protect any recipients who might be left vulnerable by this arrangement, we proposed the use of standard criteria deceased-donor kidneys to rectify the injustice in the event of any bridge-donor reneging. We report 17 successful NSKEC resulting in 67 living-donor kidney transplants (LDKT) using 23 bridge-donors without donor renege and no intervening pairs became unavailable. We propose that NSKEC could increase LDKT, especially for difficult-to-match sensitized pairs (25 of our 67 pairs) in countries with limited transplantation resources. Our study confirms that NSKEC can be safely performed with careful patient-donor selection and non-anonymous kidney exchanges.

Feasibility of Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Kidney Transplant Recipients With Severe COVID-19: A Single-Center Prospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: There are limited clinical data on feasibility and safety of convalescent plasma therapy in kidney transplant recipients with severe COVID-19. The present study was conducted to explore the feasibility of convalescent plasma treatment in 10 kidney transplant recipients with severe COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The prospective observational cohort study was conducted at the Institute of Kidney Disease and Research Centre, Ahmedabad, India. All patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and received antiviral therapy, glucocorticoids, and other supportive care. Two doses of 200 mL each of convalescent plasma with neutralization activity of >1:640 were transfused into patients 24 hours apart following the World Health Organization blood transfusion protocol. The endpoints were the improvement of clinical symptoms and laboratory parameters within 1 day and 7 days after convalescent plasma transfusion. RESULTS: The patients showed resolution of clinical symptoms, and there was a significant decrease in inflammatory markers (P < .05) within 7 days of convalescent plasma transfusion. Of the 10 patients, 9 patients had full recovery and 1 patient died. CONCLUSIONS: Convalescent plasma therapy is highly safe and clinically feasible and reduces mortality in kidney transplant recipients with severe COVID-19. Larger clinical registries and randomized clinical trials should be conducted to further explore the clinical outcomes associated with convalescent plasma use in kidney transplant recipients with severe COVID-19.

Effectiveness of the 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against radiographic pneumonia among children in rural Bangladesh: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) effectiveness against radiographic pneumonia in South Asia is unknown. Bangladesh introduced PCV10 in 2015 using a three dose primary series (3 + 0). We sought to measure PCV10 effectiveness for two or more vaccine doses on radiographic pneumonia among vaccine-eligible children in rural Bangladesh. METHODS: We conducted a matched case-control study over two years from 2015 to 2017 using clinic and community controls in three subdistricts of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Cases were vaccine eligible 3-35 month olds at Upazila Health Complex outpatient clinics with World Health Organization-defined radiographic primary endpoint pneumonia (radiographic pneumonia). Clinic controls were matched to cases within a one week time window by age, sex, and clinic and had an illness unlikely to be Streptococcus pneumoniae; community controls were healthy and similarly matched within a one week time window by age and sex, and distance from the clinic. We estimated adjusted vaccine effectiveness (aVE) using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: We matched 1262 cases with 2707 clinic and 2461 community controls. Overall, aVE using clinic controls was 21.4% (95% confidence interval, -0.2%, 38.4%) for ≥2 PCV10 doses and among 3-11 month olds was 47.3% (10.5%, 69.0%) for three doses. aVE increased with higher numbers of doses in clinic control sets (p = 0.007). In contrast, aVE using community controls was 7.6% (95% confidence interval, -22.2%, 30.0%) for ≥2 doses. We found vaccine introduction in the study area faster and less variable than expected with 75% coverage on average, which reduced power. Information bias may also have affected community controls. CONCLUSIONS: Clinic control analyses show PCV10 prevented radiographic pneumonia in Bangladesh, especially among younger children receiving three doses. While both analyses were underpowered, community control enrollment - compared to clinic controls - was more difficult in a complex, pluralistic healthcare system. Future studies in comparable settings may consider alternative study designs.

Chest radiograph reading panel performance in a Bangladesh pneumococcal vaccine effectiveness study.

Introduction: To evaluate WHO chest radiograph interpretation processes during a pneumococcal vaccine effectiveness study of children aged 3-35 months with suspected pneumonia in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Methods: Eight physicians masked to all data were standardised to WHO methodology and interpreted chest radiographs between 2015 and 2017. Each radiograph was randomly assigned to two primary readers. If the primary readers were discordant for image interpretability or the presence or absence of primary endpoint pneumonia (PEP), then another randomly selected, masked reader adjudicated the image (arbitrator). If the arbitrator disagreed with both primary readers, or concluded no PEP, then a masked expert reader finalised the interpretation. The expert reader also conducted blinded quality control (QC) for 20% of randomly selected images. We evaluated agreement between primary readers and between the expert QC reading and the final panel interpretation using per cent agreement, unadjusted Cohen's kappa, and a prevalence and bias-adjusted kappa. Results: Among 9723 images, the panel classified 21.3% as PEP, 77.6% no PEP and 1.1% uninterpretable. Two primary readers agreed on interpretability for 98% of images (kappa, 0.25; prevalence and bias-adjusted kappa, 0.97). Among interpretable radiographs, primary readers agreed on the presence or absence of PEP in 79% of images (kappa, 0.35; adjusted kappa, 0.57). Expert QC readings agreed with final panel conclusions on the presence or absence of PEP for 92.9% of 1652 interpretable images (kappa, 0.75; adjusted kappa, 0.85). Conclusion: Primary reader performance and QC results suggest the panel effectively applied the WHO chest radiograph criteria for pneumonia.

Transperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy in acute Grade 4 renal trauma with literature review and a note on some unusual complications.

Most renal traumas are successfully managed conservatively. Grade 4 and 5 trauma, however, can require nephrectomy which is almost always by laparotomy and laparoscopic nephrectomy (LN) is still considered contraindicated in acute trauma setting. We report successful transperitoneal LN in an acute grade 4 renal trauma with retroperitoneal haematoma, extensive parenchymal devascularisation and urinary extravasation though retroperitoneoscopic nephrectomy in trauma has been reported recently. However, we believe transperitoneal approach is more logical and replicates all the principles of open renal trauma surgery more accurately. A review of LN in renal trauma and some unusual problems to be anticipated during laparoscopic procedures in acute trauma setting is presented.

Extended partial cystectomy with augmentation cystoplasty in urachal adenocarcinoma: An oncologically favorable but underutilized alternative to radical cystectomy.

Partial/extended partial cystectomy (EPC) is the most common surgery done for localized urachal malignancies. However, sometimes, after EPC, patients may be left with small bladder remnant, reconstruction of which will result in very small capacity bladder with resultant severe storage voiding symptoms. We report a case of urachal adenocarcinoma, in which when a small bladder remnant was left post-EPC, instead of proceeding with radical cystectomy (RC) and neobladder (the standard alternative), bladder augmentation was done with good oncological and voiding outcome. Augmentation cystoplasty has many advantages over neobladder and we suggest it as an oncologically comparable alternative to RC with neobladder, which has been underutilized in urachal malignancies as we found on literature review.

Bladder paraganglioma with renal agenesis: A possible new association and its implications in the light of REarranged in transfection gene genetics.

Pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma and renal agenesis are commonly reported conditions. Their coexistence, however, is rare, with few cases reported. We report the case of a 21-year-old male who presented with painless hematuria. He was found to have congenital absent right kidney along with bladder mass on imaging. Examination including blood pressure was normal. He underwent cystoscopy that showed a solid looking tumor on the anterior wall. Paraganglioma was suspected due to intraoperative rise in blood pressure during resection and was confirmed on histopathology. Subsequently after work up and preoperative alpha blockade, patient underwent partial cystectomy and excision of the paravesical mass. Histopathology showed paraganglioma confined to bladder wall with surgical margins free and a paravesical mass that was seminal vesicle cyst. On follow-up, patient is normotensive and asymptomatic. This coexistence of paraganglioma and renal agenesis may have a common genetic mechanism in the form of REarranged in Transfection (RET) gene mutation. This is a well-characterized gene, mutations of which are known to be associated with both conditions. Current knowledge of the role of RET gene in both conditions is reviewed to put forth RET mutation as the possible common underlying genetic mechanism along with possible clinical implications of the combination.